Sofa bed construction



March 5, 1963 R. H. BLECKER SOFA BED CONSTRUCTION Filed May 19, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 5, 1963 R. H. BLECKER SOFA BED CONSTRUCTION 3 SheetsSheet 2 Filed May 19. 1960 March 5, ,1963

R. H. BLEcKE-:R 3,079,613

som BED CONSTRUCTION Filed May 19, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 //9 .f3 55 f?? I 4 (L //7 @55M W Mgf'a 3,tl79,6i3 SQFA BED CGNSTRUCHN Raymond H. Bleeker, Kenosha, Wis., assigner to Simmons Company, New York, NX., a corporation of Delaware Filed May 19, 1960, Ser. No. 39,383 4 Claims. (Cl. 5--13) This invention relates generally to soft beds, and more particularly to a sofa bed construction including a folding front board which is carried by the stationary sofa frame to conceal the folded bed bottom frame in seat position, and is opened and closed incident to movement of the bed bottom between its folded seat-forming position and its extended sleeping position.

In the past, it was a common practice in sofa bed construction to carry the concealing front board, or at least a portion of it, as a component of the movable bed bottom. This arrangement has certain disadvantages including the tendency of the ends of the moving front board to wear the inside upholstered surface of the sofa bed arms during the initial part of the outward bed bottom movement and during the terminal portion of the inward bed bottom movement. However, if the clearance, between the ends of the front board and the sofa arms, was increased to reduce wear on the arms of the sofa, an un` sightly gap commonly resulted at one or both ends of the front board to detract further from the appearance of the piece, the styling of which already suffered to some extent from the necessary break in the front face of the piece at the ends of the movable front board. rfhus, there was the dilemma of attempting to balance unsightly wear on the side arms with undesirable gaps in the front of the sofa bed. A further associated problem arose in connection with customer relations and the answering of service calls relative to both the wear and gapping problems.

Other problems encountered in the past, when at least a part of the front board was carried by the movable bed bottom, included the matching of the pattern of the upholstery fabric on the movable bed board with the upholstery fabric on the side arms and with the upholstery fabric on a lower stationary front board, if one was used. This problem not only involved the appearance of the sofa bed, but was particularly acute from a manufacturing viewpoint as the upholstering of the movable front board was necessarily performed as a separate operation requiring a substantial degree of control to match patterns with the upholstering of the stationary front board and the sofa arms.

The foregoing diculties, particularly those with regard to the fit of the movable front board into the stationary sofa, are of special concern in sofas of extra length. in these instances, the front board, if carried by the movable bed bottom, must extend the full front length of the sofa to preserve an unbroken upholstered line, but in that case, the front board extends laterally from the side of the extended bed bottom in out-rigger fashion and presents an undesirable obstacle. On the other hand, if the length of the front board is limited to the width of the bed bottom, undesirable lines or gaps between the upholstered front board and the stationary upholstered parts detract from the overall appearance of the unit.

Attempts have been made in the past to avoid the above mentioned problems and diiiculties by the use of a hinged front board which is secured to the sofa frame and operated in coordination with movement of the bed bottom by a rigid link connected with the linkage which supports and determines the path of travel of the movable bed bottom. However, these arrangements are not satisfactory as they require close manufacturing tolerances in order to coordinate movement of the hinged front board with that d'b l i Federated liv/ier. 5, i963 p .A- 'i of the bed bottom to insure the proper fit of the frameconcealing front board into the stationary frame.

The sofa bed construction disclosed herein employs an operating linkage which avoids the necessity for close manufacturing tolerances by incorporation of a resilient element serving both to open the front board for outward passage of the bed bottom and to bias the bed board in die closed position for locking engagement with the bed bottom when in its seat-forming position.

Accordingly, the principal object of the invention is the rovision of a sofa bed incorporating an improved linkage for operating a hinged front board. A further object of the invention is an arrangement for locking the hinged ront board in its closed position when the bed bottom is in its seating position.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent by reference to the following description and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE l is a perspective view of a sofa bed embodying various of the features of the invention;

FGURE 2 is a side view of the sofa bed shown in FIC- URE l, illustrating the interior mechanism with the bed bottom in its extended 'ced-forming position and showing the relation of the hinged front board to the extended bed bottom;

FGURE 3 is an enlarged view similar to FIGURE 2 illustrating the relation of the hinged front board to the movable bed bottom just prior to movement of the bed bottom from its balanced intermediate position to its extended position;

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FEGURE 3 showing the relation of the hinged front board to the movable bed bottom when the latter is in its fully folded seat-forming smon; and

FGURE 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 5 5 of FlGURE 3.

The sofa bed 9 shown in FIGURE l exemplies a type of construction incorporating a frame il carrying a hinged front board 13 movable between a forwardly extending, open position and a generally upright, closed position as an incident to movement of a bed bottom l5 (see FlG- URL 2) between an extended bed-forming position and a retracted seat-forming position. Although a particular construction of the frame il and the bed bottom 15 will be described, at least brielly, it should be understood at the outset, that the invention herein claimed may be used with various other frame and bed bottom constructions.

The particular illustrated frame and bed bottom are generally well known in the art, and except for some minor modifications, are essentially disclosed in United States Patent No. 2,595,938, and are also described in various other United States patents including Nos. 2,749,- 559, 2,785,415, and 2,817,109; Briefly, the illustrated frame 11 is constructed generally of angle iron and comprises two spaced side frame panels i7, each including front and rear posts 19 and 21 joined by a connecting rail 23. The side frame panels i7 are interconnected at their rear by upper and lower cross rails 25 and 27 (see FGURES 3 and 4) and at their lower front by 1a fixed front board 29. T he side frame panels 27 -are additionally interconnected by an inclined back rest panel 31 which includes frame members 33 connected to the side frame panels by braces 35 and 37, the brace 35 also lserving to carry a portion of a linkage 39 supporting the movable bed bottom 15. In addition, the frame is further rigidified by the braces 41, 43, and 45.

The bed bottom 15 comprises essentially four pivotally interconnected sections, viz., a head section 47, a long intermediate section 4?, a connecting section 51, and an outer or seat section 53. When extended in generally coplanar bed-forming position, as shown in FIGURE 2, the

bed bottom sections 47, 49, 51, and 53 form a rectangular frame-Work which supports a fabric (not shown) receiving a mattressSZ. The bed bottom is supported in the extended bed-forming position by the linkage 39 and by a pair of legs on each side of the bed bottom, one leg 59 of each pair being'piv-otally connected to the outer section 53 and the other leg 50 of each pair being pivotally connected to the intermediate section 49,

i Inits folded or seat-forming position, as seen in FIG- UREv 4, the bed bottom 15 .isV principally supported bythe linkage 39 with itsv head section 47 disposed vertically along the rear of the sofa bed, with its long intermediate section 49 disposed along the bottom, with its connecting section 51'd-isposed upright at the front, and with its outer section 53 disposed in cantilevered overlying relation to the intermediate section 49 and supported at its rearward end by posts 61 xed to the side frame panels 1'7.

The linkage 39, in addition to supporting the movable bed Ibottom, guides its movement along ya fixed path between the side Vframe panels 17 and comprises, on each side of the bed bottom 15, a pair of spaced links 63 and 65 interconnecting Vthe brace 3,5, with the head section 47 of the bed bottom, and a support arm 67 connecting lthe intermediate section 49 with a bracket 69 xed in the side fra-me panel 17 adjacent the corner formed by the connecting rail 23 and front post 19. In order to synchronize the movement of both support arms 67, and thereby prevent skewing of the bed bottom V15 as it moves into or from between the side frame panels 17, the support arms 67 are rigidly connected to the ends of an egualizing rod, preferably a torque tube 71. Movement of the bed bottom 15 into and out of its'seat position is cushioned by a set of tension springs 73 extending on each side of the bed bottom from the top of fthe front post 19 to a bracket 75 secured to the intermediate secti-on 49.

When in the folded condition, the intermediate, connecting, and outer sections 49, ,51,A and 53 are locked against the expansive forces of the mattress 57 conned therebetween by a locking mechanism 77. This mechanism lis fully disclosed in United States PatentNo'., 2,785,415, and includes briefly, al locking link 79 interconnecting the outer and connecting bed bottom sections 51 and 53, a control link 81 which unlocks the link 79 incident to unfolding of the outer and connecting sections 51 and 53 relative to the intermediate section 49, alink 83 bridging rthe intermediate and connecting sections 49 fand 51, and an actuating link. 85 which is pivotally fixed relative to the rhead section 47 and serves to lock the bridging link S3 incident to complete movement of the bed bottom 15 into the folded condition.

Incident to movement of the bed bottom 15 between its extended position and its folded position, the legs 59 and 69. are automatically positionedby a linkage for movement between a retracted position associated with the folded bed bottom condition yand a oor engaging posi- :tion associated with the extended bed-forming position. This linkage is duplicated on both sides of theV bed bottom and includes a link S7 pivotally extending from the actuating link 85 to a pivotal connection S9 with the leg 66. Extending pivotally from the connection 89 is a connecting link 91 which, at its outer end, is attached to a U-shaped cross bar 93 of angle iron suspended at each side of the bed bottom 15 by a stra-p 95 which is fixed to the cross bar 93 and is pivotally connected at its upper end to the connecting section 51 of the bed bottom. Also pivotally connected to the cross bar 93 is a link 99 which, at its outer end, is pivotally connected to the leg 59 mountedon the outer section.

In addition to serving as a component ofthe ,leg controlling linkage .and serving to cross rigidify the bed bottom 15, the cross bar 93 alsoserves to carry the'control link 81 of therlocking mechanism 77 and to lock the folding front board 13 in its closed upright position when aon-els the bed Abottom 15 is in its folded seat-forming position. The cross bar '93 further provides a means for attaching a flap 101 (see FIGURE 2) which extends from the mattress receiving fabric so that,v when the bed bottom is in its folded, seating position, there is provided a taut continuous support extending from the front edge of the, sofa to the rearwardly disposed end of the Iouter section for receiving the sofa seat cushions. In this last regard, as seen by comparison of FIGURES 2 and 3., folding of the outer and connecting sections 53l and 51 relative to the intermediate section 49 causes vmovement of the cross bar 93 from a position spaced below the interconnection of the connecting and outersections, to a position in forwardly adjacent relation to the connecting section 51 at its, interconnection with the outer section 53.

Y The principal improvement incorporated in the disclosed construction relates to the hinged mounting of the movable Vfront board 13 to the front ofthe sofa frame and comprises a novel linkage or arrangement for initiating andvcontrolling movement of the front board' 13 in co-y ordination with movement of the bed bottom 15. A fur# ther important improvement is the provision of an interlock between the hinged front board 13 and the linkage? for preventing displacement of the lhinged front board from its closed position when the bed bottom is inits folded condition.

In the illustrated construction, the movable front board 1 3 comprises an upholstered wooden board which is,V

hingedly connected to the fixed front board 29 by aseries of hinges 195, as seen best in FIGURE 5. In turn, the xed front board 29 is secured at each end to a spacer 107 carried on a shim 109 attached to the front posts119 (see FIGURES 3 and 4). i front board 13 between its generally upright closed position, as shown in FIGURES 1, 3, 4, and 5, and its open, forwardly extending position, as shown in FIGURE 2,

to provide clearance for forward extension ofY the bedy bottom, is controlled, at least in part, by one or more' helical tension springs 111. As disclosed, one. springV is located adjacent each end of the folding'front board 13 and an additional spring is located centrally of the yfront board 13. Thus, proper operation of the front boar can be obtained regardless of any subsequent lengthwise warping or bowing of the front board 13. Each spring` extends between. an anchor .113 suitably. secured to th` rear of the folding front board 13 and is connectedaf. its rearward end to a movable element of the linkage 39, in the present instance the torque tube 71.wl1ichrcon.v

nects the support arms 67 of the bed bottom supporting.

linkage. Each spring can be connected directly to the torque tube 71,'as for instance, by a closed hook or. eye formed at its rearwardk end and assembled inencompassing relation to the torque tube. However, in theY dis=`r closed construction, each spring is secured to a strap fixed around the torque tube 71.r i 'l Each of the springs 111 serves in a three-fold capacity, i.e., to return the hinged front board 13 tofitsnipright1 position incident to return of the bed bottom 15 to Vits, fully folded position, to initiate movement of'the hingedl front board from its upright position incident 'toroutward extension of the bed bottom, and ,to'limit the forwardly swinging movement of the hinged front board after sutil: cient clearance is provided for forward extension of theVV bed bottom. I I

Accomplishment of these functions is achieved by proportioning each spring 111 so that when the spring is not under tension, its turns are in contact with one an-y other and it has a fixed length, thereby enabling its use as a thrust member for initiating the unfolding movement of the front board. This occurs when thedevi'ce 1s in the partially unfolded condition, as shown generally in FIGURE 3. When the bed bottom 15 moves-from the position shown in FIGURE 3-to-its fully-folded condition, thereby swinging the torque tube 71 rearwardly and downwardly, each spring 111 pulls the. front board Movement of the movable aar/asie into upright position and becomes a tension spring for esiliently holding the folding front board 13 in its upright condition. On the other hand, as the support arms 67 rock forwardly from the position shown in FIP- URE 3 incident to additional movement of the bed bottom toward its extended condition, one or more of the springs lll is converted to a thrust member which pushes the hinged front board 13 forwardly to initiate its opening movement and to cause continued forwardly swinging movement under the influence of gravity. This latter movement of the hinged front board acts to again extend the springs lll, notwithstanding some additional forward movement of the torque tube 7l. As the front board approaches a generally horizontal open position, the increasing tension in the springs 111 arrests further swinging movement of the hinged front board i3. in the horizontal position shown in FlGURE 2, ample clearance is provided between the hinged front board l and the outwardly moving bed bottom l5 to permit its unhindered extension to the bed-forming condition.

- e utilization of normally close wound, helical tension springs 111, which springs are exibly resilient under tension but relatively axially rigid when relaxed to facilitate the transmission of a forward thrust, permits simple and eective accomplishment of coordinated front board and bed bottom movement without necessitating close and expensive manufacturing tolerance control.

Various arrangements, depending on the style of the sofa bed, can be employed to hold the hinged front board 13 upright against the action of the helical springs 1li when the bed bottom l5 is in its fully folded condition. n the illustrated design, both the hinged and iixed front boards 13 and 29 extend for the full length of the sofa bed, the ends of the hinged front board being mitered or tapered from the rear when viewed in a horizontal section so there is only a single break in the upholstery at the corner edge 116 (see FIGURE l). Of course, the underlying frame-work of the sofa bed is provided with a complementary adjacent surface to accommodate flush receipt of the hinged front board when in its upright position.

Alternately, if it is desired to continue the line of the vinner surface of the arm to the bottom of the sofa bed,

the hinged front board can be terminated in alignment therewith and any suitable stop can be attached to the upper end of the front posts l? or to the adjacent portions of the upholstered frame-work. ln extra length sofa beds, the hinged front board can be held in its upright position by either of the arrangements just described.

in a T-cushion design, a pleasing unbroken upholstered line can be best achieved by extending the hinged front board rearwardly at its ends to meet the front face of the foreshortened sofa arm. in this case, the lower edge of the rearwardly directed end portions of the front board can be effectively used as a stop against an underlying portion of the upholstered frame-work to limit rearward folding of the hinged front board.

Locking of the hinged front board 13 to prevent outward displacement from its closed position when the bed bottom i5 is in its fully folded condition, is accomplished by interlocking engagement between one or more latches il? secured to the rear of the hinged front board i3, and the cross bar 93 carried by the bed bottom l5. Each of the disclosed latches il? constitutes an upwardly directed arm 119 which is rearwardly odset from the hinged front board i3 for receipt therebetween of the cross bar 93 during terminal movement of the bed bottom into its seat-forming condition. Engagement of the rearward surface of the cross oar 93 by the arm or arms 119 prevents outward displacement of the hinged front board when the bed bottom is in its fully folded condition.

in operation, after removal of the seat cushions, the bed bottom 15 can be easily extended from its fully folded condition (FEGURE 4) to the bed-forming condition (FIGURE 2) by an upward force applied through a handle (not shown) extending upwardly from the cross bar 93 through the adjacent fabric. Initial unfolding movement of the bed bottom to the partially unfolded balanced condition shown in FIGURE 3 is aided by the spring sets 73, and results in withdrawal of the cross bar 93 from between the arms T19 and the hinged front 'board i3, and also causes a generally upwardly and forwardly swinging movement of the torque tube transversely interconnecting the support arm 67. As previously mentioned, this movement of the torque tube relaxes the springs lli to their normally close wound condition, thereby making the springs available as thrust members. Continued outward movement of the bed bottom 15 is accompanied by a generally forward movement of the torque tube 71, thereby, with the cooperation of the relatively axially rigid springs H1, thrusting the hinged front board i3 forwardly from its upright closed position.

After initial displacement of the front board from its closed position, the force of gravity causes continued forward and outward swinging of the front board until there is ample room available for the downwardly swinging intermediate bed bottom section 49 and the associated linkages. e accompanying forward movement of the anchors H3 secured to the front board 13 causes renewed extension of the springs lll, thereby arresting outward swinging movement of the hinged front board when in a generally horizontal disposition.

Upon return of the bed bottom l5 to its folded condition, the rearward movement of the torque tube 7l acting through the springs lll-l overcomes the force of gravity and rocks the hinged front board i3 back into its closed position. in this connection, it will be noted that during closing movement of the hinged front board i3, its relation to the bed bottom 1S lags somewhat behind their relation during their opening movement. This is due to the partially tensioned condition of the springs 111 occurring during raising of the front board 13 to its closed upright position; and has the beneficial result of delaying movement of the hinged front board into its closed upright position until after movement of the bed bottom past its balanced center condition shown in EGURE 3, toward its fully folded condition, thereby insuring the avoidance of any interference with the inward folding movement of the bed bottom. As the bed bottom approache its fully folded condition, the cross bar 93 enters between the arms El?" of the latch and the rear face of the hinged front board i3 to prevent opening of the latter without accompanying unfolding of the bed bottom.

Various features of the invention are set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

i. A sofa bed comprising a stationary sofa frame, a bed bottom movable between a folded seat-forming position and an extended bed-forming position, a linkage interconnecting said bed bottom and said sofa frame and including an element movable relative to the frame, said linkage supporting said bed bottom and facilitating movement thereof between its folded and its extended positions, a front board hinged to said frame for movement etween an upright closed position when said bed bottom is in its folded position and an open, forwardly extending position when said bed bottom is in its extended position, and a helical spring linking said movable element and said front board to cause positioning of said front board as an incident to movement of said bed bottom, said spring being proportioned and positioned so as to establish a tensioned condition therein when said bed lbottom is in said folded position, thereby biasing said movable front board to its closed position, and being proportioned and positioned so that the initial part of the movement of said linkage accompanying opening of said bed bottom to its extended position acts to relieve the tension in said spring and to thereby convert said spring into a thrust member which operates, incident to continued linkage movement accompanying opening of said t bedbottom to its extended position, to cause movement of saidontboard toward its open position.

2. YA -sofa bed comprising a V,stationary sofa frame, a bed bottom -movable between afolded seat-forming position, and an extended bed-forming position, a linkage interconnecting said bed bottom and said sofaframe and including .an velement movable relative to the frame, said linkage supporting said bed bottom and facilitating movement thereof between its folded and 'its extended positions, atfront board 'hinged to said frame for movement between aV generally upright'clos'ed position when said lbed bottom is in its folded position and a forwardly extending open position when said bed bottom is in'its extended position, .stop means on Ysaid frame for preventing movement of said front board Vrearwardly of its upright closed position, and anormally close wound helical .spring linking vsaid element and said front board to cause positioning of said front board as an incident to movement of said bed bottom, said Vspring being proportioned andk positioned to establish a tensioned condition therein when said bed bottom is in said folded position, thereby biasing said upper front board against said stop means, and being proportioned and positioned so that Vtheinitial part of Vthe movement of said linkage accompanying opening oftsaid bed bottom to its extended position acts to return said spring to its normally close wound .condition enabling utilization thereof as a thrust member which, incident to continued linkage movement accompanying opening ofvsaid bed bottom, initially rocks said Vfront board forwardly from its generally upright closed position, whereafterthe force ofgravity causes continued forward rocking -of said front board, and being Yproportioned .and positioned `so Athat continued forward rocking fof said 4.front board causes renewed extention of ,said spring, thereby balancing the force of gravity and determining the disposition of said front board when in YYits open position.l

V3. A sofa bedcomprising` a stationary sofa frame with .-a lower fixed frontA board, a bed bottom movable between a Vfolded seat-forming position Yand Van extended bed- !forming condition, saidibed bottom comprising a plurality 6of interconnectedsections with one. of said sections having a cross member disposed along the `.front of said sofa -bed when said bed bottom is in its folded condition, a Vf-bed bottom .supporting linkage interconnecting the res'pectivesides of said bed bottom and said sofa frame and Vfacilitating movement of said bed-bottom between its folded position and its extended position, said/linkage including a cross element movable relative to said frame, an upper front board hinged to the upper edge of said Vrlower front board -for movement between a generally Vvertical closed .position when said bed bottom is in Vits ,foldedpposit'ontandvan open forwardly extending position Jwhenfsaidbed bottomis in its lextended position, vstop means Von saidframe -tforppreventing movement of said `front board rearwardly of its upright closed positiomand three transversely spaced, normally close .wound helical springs .connecting said cross element andY said upper ffront board `to cause positioning of said upper front board as kan incident to movementof said bed bottom,

, said ysprings each being proportioned to establisheda tensioned condition therein when said bed bottom is in said folded position, thereby .biasing nsaid upper front board Y spaanse 8 against said stopmeans), each being yproportioned so that the initial part of the movement of said linkage accompanying opening of said bed bottom to its extended position acts to allow return of said spring'to its relaxed close,

wound condition for utilization as a thrustY member which, mcdent to `continued linkage movement accompanying opening of said bed bottom, initially displaces'saidupper v front board forwardly from its generally upright closed position, whereafter the force of gravity causes continued forward rocking Vof said upper front board, and eachbeing proportioned so that continued forward rocking Vof said upper front' board causes renewed extensionl thereof,

thereby balancing the force of gravity and "determining the disposition of said upper front board when in its open position, said ,upper front board and said cross member having interlocking means engageable incident to movement of Ysaid bed 'bottom into its folded position when said Yupper front board is' in its closed position to thereby prevent displacement of said upper frontvboard from said closed position.. l y y 4.*A sofa bed comprising a stationary sofa frame, a b ed bottom movable between a` folded seat-forming posi- Ktion andan extended bed-forming condition, said bed bottom comprising aplurality of interconnected sections with one of said sections havinga cross member d'sposed along the front of said'sofa bed'when said bed bottom is in its folded condition, a bed' bottom supporting linkage ,interconnecting said bed bottom and said sofa frame and faciltating movement of said bed bottom between its folded position` and its extended position, a front board hinged to said frame for Amovement betweenfa closed position when.` said lbedvbottom is in its folded position' and an open positon when jsaid bed bottom is in its extended position, the rearward surface of the upper edge portion of said front board being positioned adjacent said fcross member when-said bed bottom is in its folded `position, a helical springextending between said bed bottom supportinglinkage and said front board, said helical spring beingtdisposed so as to assume a condition of tension and urge'the'upper edge portion of said 'front board in theV direction of said crosrsrmember when said bed bottom is in its folded'positiom and a bracket projecting from lthe vrearward surface of said front board engageable with said cross member as said bed bottom ,reaches its folded position and when said front board is in its closed position to thereby prevent dispiacement of vsaid front board from said closed position.

References Cited inthe -tile of this patent UNITED .STATES PATENTSA Y 

4. A SOFA BED COMPRISING A STATIONARY SOFA FRAME, A BED BOTTOM MOVABLE BETWEEN A FOLDED SEAT-FORMING POSITION AND AN EXTENDED BED-FORMING CONDITION, SAID BED BOTTOM COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF INTERCONNECTED SECTIONS WITH ONE OF SAID SECTIONS HAVING A CROSS MEMBER DISPOSED ALONG THE FRONT OF SAID SOFA BED WHEN SAID BED BOTTOM IS IN ITS FOLDED CONDITION, A BED BOTTOM SUPPORTING LINKAGE INTERCONNECTING SAID BED BOTTOM AND SAID SOFA FRAME AND FACILITATING MOVEMENT OF SAID BED BOTTOM BETWEEN ITS FOLDED POSITION AND ITS EXTENDED POSITION, A FRONT BOARD HINGED TO SAID FRAME FOR MOVEMENT BETWEEN A CLOSED POSITION WHEN SAID BED BOTTOM IS IN ITS FOLDED POSITION AND AN OPEN POSITION WHEN SAID BED BOTTOM IS IN ITS EXTENDED POSITION, THE REARWARD SURFACE OF THE UPPER EDGE PORTION OF SAID FRONT BOARD BEING POSITIONED ADJACENT SAID CROSS MEMBER WHEN SAID BED BOTTOM IS IN ITS FOLDED POSITION, A HELICAL SPRING EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID BED BOTTOM SUPPORTING LINKAGE AND SAID FRONT BOARD, SAID HELICAL SPRING BEING DISPOSED SO AS TO ASSUME A CONDITION OF TENSION AND URGE THE UPPER EDGE PORTION OF SAID FRONT BOARD IN THE DIRECTION OF SAID CROSS MEMBER WHEN SAID BED BOTTOM IS IN ITS FOLDED POSITION, AND A BRACKET PROJECTING FROM THE REARWARD SURFACE OF SAID FRONT BOARD ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID CROSS MEMBER AS SAID BED BOTTOM REACHES ITS FOLDED POSITION AND WHEN SAID FRONT BOARD IS IN ITS CLOSED POSITION TO THEREBY PREVENT DISPLACEMENT OF SAID FRONT BOARD FROM SAID CLOSED POSITION. 